I love old. I love recycled. And I love “made in the USA.” So imagine my delight when I learned about Bailey & Griffin, a luxury fabric line that had been out of production for years until Duralee revived it.
The brand’s history is interesting. “Founded in 1923, Bailey & Griffin began as the U.S. distributor for UK-based fabric house, Arthur H. Lee & Co….[the] designs were quickly embraced by the burgeoning U.S. design community.” Skipping a few corporate steps (because I can’t figure out all of the connections, beyond Arthur H. Lee’s merger with Lee Jofa), Duralee bought the B. Berger companies in 2012 primarily to acquire its window treatment hardware line.
As an unexpected bonus, with it came the fantastic archives of Bailey & Griffin. It must have been like buying an old painting at a flea market because you like the frame, and then the picture turns out to be a Picasso.
Duralee’s Ann Hahn, the incredibly knowledgeable, gracious designer who gave the presentation I attended at the Duralee showroom, saw the potential in the Bailey & Griffin patterns. She explained their French, English, and Indian influences, which was fascinating.
The Bailey & Griffin designs themselves are lovely — florals, a toile, some Chinoiserie — but Ms. Hahn knew that in order to make these patterns relevant today, some changes were in order. She played with the scale of the designs, in many cases making it bigger, and she created new, fresh colorways.
I’ll be honest: were I to have seen the patterns as they were originally, I doubt I would have thought twice. “Waverly,” I might have sniffed. “Laura-Ashley-esque,” my high school flashback self might have whispered in my ear.
BUT. Thanks to Ms. Hahn’s intelligent and creative redesign, these patterns are now fresh, relevant, and, yes, BOSSY!
I especially love that some of the designs are printed on a natural-toned (warm) fabric, and some are on pure white (cool). I can’t tell you how helpful this is. Take the pattern, “Patrice,” for example. The Linen/Charcoal colorway is printed on pure white groundcloth:
And the Flame colorway is on a rich, orangey cream groundcloth:
Two tones, two colorways, infinite decorating possibilities!
As though the patterns themselves weren’t exciting enough, Bailey & Griffin fabric is hand screened at the VERY SAME press — Griswold Textile Print in Westerly, Rhode Island — where they were printed originally. Rah, rah, USA! Some fabrics are printed on screens 50 FEET LONG, with two people, one on each side of a screen:
They print one color at a time, with each color application taking about 30 minutes, and then they repeat with 9-12 colors. FOR EACH BOLT OF FABRIC. Isn’t that amazing?
It’s always exciting to have a new resource.
Annie Elliott is an expert in curated interiors, brilliant color palettes, and telling people what to do in the nicest way possible. Her interior design firm, bossy color, has been showing houses in the greater DC area who’s boss for more than 10 years.